On November 18th, the International Actuarial Association (IAA) issued a public
statement, on behalf of the actuarial profession, in support of the objectives of the
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21. COP21 will be a crucial
conference, as the IAA believes that strong commitments by all countries to address
this issue are needed. The conference objective is to achieve a universal agreement
on efforts regarding our climate, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the
global temperature increase to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The IAA, through its Resource and Environment Working Group, supports the need to
mitigate, manage and increase awareness of climate-related risks to human life and
property and their potential impact on the world economy. Actuaries focus broadly on
risks and risk mitigation in order to help assure the resilience of financial systems and
institutions. Our support for the COP 21 initiatives is consistent with our commitment
to the sustainability of financial systems and institutions across the globe.
The statement supports the IAA’s strategic objective to provide actuarial input to
improve the soundness of decisions being made on issues with global impact.
To learn more about the work of the IAA in this area, please contact theSupranational
Relations Manager at the IAA Secretariat.